Late last week, I got what could only be described as a gut punch when I learned that the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA), the group that governs all the Unitarian Universalist churches in the country, had signed a new affiliation agreement with the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). The UUA had broken with the BSA over its policy of excluding atheists and LGBT scouts and leaders. The agreement is just more proof that the so-called non-creedal religion really dislikes atheists.
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Science Isn’t A Matter For Public Opinion
This past week, the Tribeca Film Festival tried to show a film about the ‘bad effects’ of vaccinations on children. The film was written and directed by the scientist who was rebuked for making false claims in a paper he wrote. The festival rightly was pummeled in the press for giving the charlatan a platform to spew his false narrative. When it comes to settled science there is no room for public opinion.
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Humanism Has A Broad Purpose
One area of Humanism that generates discussion and comment within the movement is what is the scope of our worldview. Should we try to solve all the problems we see in the world or should we focus on only a few narrow concerns? One primary purpose is opposing religion but a debate shows up when one wants to go beyond that one issue. Humanism should and does have a ‘broad purpose’ because humans solving human problems is a broad topic and religion could even be connected tangentially to those problems.
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Religious Freedom Should Be For All Of Us
January 16th is National Religious Freedom Day in the US. The day commemorates the Virginia General Assembly’s adoption of Thomas Jefferson’s landmark Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom on January 16, 1786. Today we have many issues with religious freedom. One issue is that some people in this country want religious freedom to be for their religion only. Religious freedom should be for all of us.
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4 Holiday Tips for the Non-Religious
November through early January there are several major holidays celebrated in the US. Most of them have some kind of religious context but that shouldn’t hold back the non-religious. Here are four holiday tips for the non-religious.
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Restoring Balance To Religious Freedom
The Center for American Progress (CAP) sees the problem with religious freedom after the Hobby Lobby court decision in 2014. Religious freedom is being used as a weapon to discriminate. CAP has some ideas on how to restore the religious freedom balance. The ideas seem like a good start.
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